Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

before and after the execution of my child, never to do that which can disgrace the blood of Romodanowski.'"

" The Czar, I say it in his praise, yielded ; but to revenge himself on the independent spirit of the Muscovite aristocracy, he built St. Petersburg.

"Nicholas," added prince К, "would not

have acted thus ; he would have sent the boyard and his son to the mines, and have declared by an ukase, conceived in legal terms, that neither the father nor the son соггк! have children ; perhaps he would have deci`eed that the father had never been married ; siieh things still often take place in Riissia, the best pi`oof of which is that Ave are foi`bidden to recount them."

Be this as it гпау, the pi*ide of the ]VIuscovite гюЫе gives a perfect idea of that singular combmation of which the acüial state of Russian society is the result. A monstrous compound of the petty ì`efineinents of Byzantium, and the ferocity of the desei`t horde, a striiggle between the etiqiiette of the Lower Empire, and the savage virtiies of Asia, have produced the mighty state which Europe now beholds, and the mfluence of which she will pi`obably feel hei`eafter, without being able to understand its operation.

We have just seen an instance of arbitrary power outbraved and humiliated by the aristoci`acy.

This fact, and many others, justify me in maintaining that it is an aristo«`acy which constitutes the gi`eatest check огг the despotism of агг individual, — on an autoci*acy ; the вогг! of aristocracy is pi`ide, the spirit of demo«`acy is envy. We will now see how easily an aiitocrat гпау be deceived.

This morning we passed Revel. The sight of that place, which has not long been Russian territory,